We've compiled a series of questions and answers below that you may find useful on the topic of volunteering, safeguarding and health and safety.
If you can't find an answer to your question, you can also get in touch with our volunteering team.
We've compiled a series of questions and answers below that you may find useful on the topic of volunteering, safeguarding and health and safety.
If you can't find an answer to your question, you can also get in touch with our volunteering team.
Not all volunteering roles require a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. However, clubs are legally required to assess volunteering roles and determine whether it’s one that requires a DBS check.
Read more about 1. Do all volunteers need a DBS check?For more information on this, visit the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.
Read less about 1. Do all volunteers need a DBS check?If you have a potential volunteer from overseas and their role requires a DBS check, you'll need:
Read more about 2. How do I carry out a DBS check if a volunteer is not a UK national or is British and has lived abroad?If a potential volunteer is British but has lived abroad and their role requires a DBS check, they’ll need:
The procedures for obtaining police checks for foreign nationals differ from country to country – click here to learn more.
Read less about 2. How do I carry out a DBS check if a volunteer is not a UK national or is British and has lived abroad?This will depend on the nature of the information that the DBS check reveals and the role that the volunteer would be performing.
Read more about 3. I've had a DBS check carried out on a prospective volunteer and it has not come back clear. What should we do?A spent criminal conviction shouldn’t necessarily prevent someone volunteering. However, if someone is applying to volunteer with children or vulnerable adults and a DBS check reveals they’ve been convicted or suspected of offences against them, this will rule them out of the position.
Prospective volunteers can appeal the outcome of DBS checks in certain circumstances – click here for more information.
Read less about 3. I've had a DBS check carried out on a prospective volunteer and it has not come back clear. What should we do?If you have any concerns about the welfare of a child at your club, you should report this appropriately. Child protection should be part of your club’s safeguarding procedures, and you should follow the procedures outlined by your club.
Read more about 4. I’m concerned about the welfare of one of the children at the club. What should I do?If you believe a child is in immediate danger, you need to contact the police.
If your club does not have the appropriate procedures in place regarding child protection, there are other organisations you can contact:
If the harm you’re concerned about would mean that the person has broken the law, then this makes it a matter for the police.
Read more about 5. I’m concerned that one of our volunteers may have done something to harm someone else. What should I do? Do I need to refer them to the DBS?If you’re concerned about harm to children or vulnerable adults, this should be covered by your club’s safeguarding policy, which should outline the procedure you should follow.
If your volunteer has been involved in regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults, then you do need to refer your concerns to the DBS, but they should be investigated first before a referral is made.
For more information, click on the below links:
If you have volunteers under 18, this may affect the screening, training and support you need to provide the other volunteers who work with them.
Read more about 6. Do we need extra safeguards if we have volunteers who are under 18?For example, if another volunteer is likely to have close and unsupervised contact with someone under 18, they should go through a DBS check and your club should have a safeguarding policy. Make it clear to volunteers over 18 that these safeguarding procedures apply to some of the volunteers they’re working alongside, as well as the participants at your club.
For more information on safeguarding see the National Council for Voluntary Organisations’ website.
Read less about 6. Do we need extra safeguards if we have volunteers who are under 18?If your club supports children, young people or vulnerable adults as participants or volunteers, then it should have a safeguarding policy and procedures. These should include checking anyone applying for a volunteer role that involves close and unsupervised contact with children or vulnerable adults.
Read more about 7. Do we need extra safeguards if volunteers work with children or vulnerable adults?For more information on safeguarding see the National Council for Voluntary Organisations’ website.
Read less about 7. Do we need extra safeguards if volunteers work with children or vulnerable adults?When considering risk in relation to volunteering, you need to consider how volunteers themselves should be protected in their roles, as well as the risk that involving volunteers poses to your organisation.
Read more about 8. How do I assess and manage the risks in relation to volunteering?Consider volunteer risk alongside other areas of risk for your club or group and as part of an overall risk assessment.
For example, if you were carrying out a risk assessment for a sports event your club was organising, you’d consider volunteers alongside sports participants, the general public and any staff.
A potential and often unrealised risk organisations face is that they unintentionally give volunteers the same rights as employees by treating them in certain ways. Click here to learn more about the differences.
You can find out more information about how sports clubs and groups can assess risk using the links below:
Your club has a responsibility for the health and safety of people who visit, work, or are affected by your club’s activities.
Read more about 9. How can we fulfil our responsibilities for the health and safety of our club’s volunteers?This includes:
Undertaking risk assessments and having a clear sports health and safety policy will help you to manage this obligation.
Additionally, if your club has paid employees, you’ll be required to meet further health and safety standards. These clubs fall within the main scope of the Health and Safety at Work Act. They're required to ensure safe systems of work and a safe working environment for their staff and others using the premises where the work takes place.
Our Club Matters website has a wide range of information on sports health and safety for clubs. If you register, you can also access downloadable guides and checklists to help you further.
Read less about 9. How can we fulfil our responsibilities for the health and safety of our club’s volunteers?No one involved in sport and physical activity, whether they’re a volunteer, participant, spectator or an elite athlete, should ever have to worry about abuse or harassment.